They've only been together a year but are earning a strong reputation locally and from touring. The work ethic is impressive, too. All of them “are on the same page.”

“We rehearse twice a week every week,” said Salinas. “I saw a lot of potential in these guys here. My goal is to take them all the way to the top.”

A new EP includes killer tracks, including “La Madera,” “Saca La Botella” and “Si Quieres.”

The sound is tight.

Salinas cites the long list of Tejano and Tex-Mex legends that Latin Heat has backed.

“That's what this band is capable of. Not too many bands can do that,” he said proudly.

“I know a lot of people are saying that Tejano music is dying. But you know what? The only way that Tejano music will die is if we let it die. I'm not about to let that go.”

The Weslaco native grew up in Wisconsin. That's where he met his wife. They were teenagers when they married. Salinas admits that some friends and family members “didn't think it would last.”

But it did. The couple moved to San Antonio in 1973 and raised a family. Salinas gladly hung up his musical dreams.

Their life was rocked when she developed a lump in one of her breasts. Treatments proved successful. But later, after a blood transfusion, she developed cirrhosis. A shock “because she was not a drinker,” said Salinas.

“She knew I always had my heart in the music. She could see it. I always was singing to her. I spent the last few nights there with my wife at the hospital, she told me, ‘Go back to the music.'” Salinas recounted.

“I'm doing it because of her. But life has not been the same, my man.”